


Hiraeth

by taengelkook



Category: brightwin - Fandom
Genre: Cliche, Film References, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, film student bright, stranger win
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:13:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27641924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taengelkook/pseuds/taengelkook
Summary: Bright is an insomniac film student. On days he could not sleep, he writes. But on this particular day, he could neither sleep nor write, so he downs three bottles of beer in a blink; in hopes of a solution to his situation.But still, none.He heads to the fridge to get another bottle, but as he reaches for it, a stranger comes rushing—sweat dripping down from his face to his neck, panting heavily as if he was being chased by the police.Bright stood there trying to figure out who the man was, and what the fuck was he doing inside his condo at three in the morning.
Relationships: Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree/Win Metawin Opas-iamkajorn
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Hiraeth

Bright slams his head on the table in frustration; he’s been staring at his laptop for hours already and nothing has come out yet. He gets up to get a drink. He hates days like this, when his insomnia attacks and he just knows he can’t do anything about it, other than entertain himself by making drafts of stories that he could use in the future. “Better make something out of this damn insomnia than just stare at the ceiling and wait for sleep to come,” Bright thinks to himself.

He looks around, three beers down and he still can’t think of what to do, so he heads back to the fridge to get another drink when a stranger comes rushing—sweat dripping down from his face to his neck, panting heavily as if he was being chased by the police.

Bright was too intoxicated to even process what was happening, so he just stood there; trying to figure out who the man was and what the fuck was he doing inside his condo at three in the morning.

The other looked equally puzzled as Bright. How he got there, he did not know. But one thing he’s sure of, he needed to run away, and where he was now strangely felt like the right place to be in.

“Who are you and why are you here?” Bright asked, curiosity not leaving him as he looked at the boy who didn’t know how to explain. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Why are you in MY CONDO at three in the morning?” Bright repeated, putting emphasis on my condo. Irritation painted on his face as he observed the other who didn’t even budge for a few minutes. They were just staring at each other, tension building up in the air. The boy finally decides to answer his question, “I’m Win. I just really need a place now” speaking in a low voice barely hearing him.

Bright had a lot of questions in his mind, but he didn’t bother to ask as he didn’t have the energy to. He just simply let him be, abandoning the thoughts of how this man could be a potential thief, serial killer, or one of those bad guys in films that would get someone’s organs and sell it. Whatever. He thinks to himself, feeling like a good Samaritan for letting a stranger in his place. 

As if the beer he chugged earlier wasn’t enough liquid in his system, he made himself and Win some freshly brewed coffee. It was already five in the morning. If he’s really not gonna get any sleep, he should at least start the day properly by keeping himself properly awake.

“Bright!” yelling his name loud enough to catch his attention, “Huh?” He was completely clueless as to why the latter was calling him, and how he knew his name when he didn’t even introduce himself earlier, but he just shrugged it off. Maybe he read it somewhere, or maybe he did introduce himself earlier, he just can’t remember. “The coffee’s boiling.” Win said which snapped him back to his senses, he quickly grabbed the coffee maker and turned it off, pouring the boiling hot coffee, filling up their mugs, and walking towards Win to offer him one.

“Thanks.” the man smiled at him. This is the first time Bright saw his face clearly, the light from the sunrise hitting his face just right. He has a fair complexion, his lips just perfectly plump, and his eyes turn to crescents when he smiles; he feels too familiar to just be a stranger. Still, he doesn’t know if he ever met the man in front of him.

“Movie?” Bright asked, offering entertainment to the other who seemed to have stared at every random object present in his unit, “I thought you’d never ask” Win smiled again as Bright offered him the remote, giving him the freedom to do the honor in choosing a movie to watch. 10 things I hate about you. Of course, a classic.

They had little chit-chats while watching the film, none of them turned into a conversation, though. They were all just reactions from the scenes being played in front of them.

“That’s so…” Win couldn’t find the right words, his eyes were glued to the screen.“Obnoxious? Weird? Desperate?” Bright asked, in awe of how engaged the other was. “Thoughtful, actually” Bright was astonished, as a film student, he’s used to people around him calling this scene as corny, obnoxious, and sappy but it was actually one of his favorite parts in the film.

“You know what?” Bright started, taking Win’s attention all to himself, “I thought so too. If someone would do that to me, I’d melt on the spot” Bright shared, imagining as if someone’s actually doing that to him. Win was amused, he never knew someone like Bright would be a sucker for clichés.

He found it strange for him to be able to talk comfortably like this with a stranger Bright is an introvert. He usually didn’t know how to express himself through words, so he’s used to writing it all down instead of speaking, but with Win, it felt different. Like he didn’t have to hide, he didn’t even have to talk, but Win would still understand what he’s feeling. It was a strange connection between them, but to be honest? The former didn’t mind at all. He never thought that he could feel this familiarity with someone even without saying a word. 

Bright’s daydream was cut short when he noticed Win’s figure standing in front of him, puzzled. He looked up to him and asked what he was doing. “Like this?” The latter glided to his left, copying the actions of the man in the film. Bright shook his head while laughing, “Oh no, no, no we’re not doing this” Win was trying to pull him up from his seat, “Why? Is this not enough?” He jokingly asked, still trying to get him off his seat. “Come on!” Win persuaded, but this wasn’t in Bright’s plans, he didn’t wanna surrender. There is no way I’m doing that, he thought. But the former also had other plans, while looking straight into Bright’s eyes, he started singing,

You're just too good to be true  
Can't take my eyes off of you  
You'd be like Heaven to touch  
I wanna hold you so much

At this point, Bright just gave up. There was no way he’d be able to resist this gesture, so he stood up, swaying to the other’s voice. At that moment, he didn’t care. He just went with the flow. He never felt like a YOLO person in years. It was unbelievable to him how this stranger opened up some things he didn’t know he had in him.

Maybe it was the amount of sexual tension between them that had stopped Win from singing; snapping out of his thought, as if he had been caught red-handed. He felt too bare, too exposed, and he didn’t like that feeling. He looked away in embarrassment. What did he think of dancing with a stranger? It was a vulnerable moment for him, and he hated it. 

Bright wasn’t dumb. He knew something was going on and he didn’t know where the hell it came from, but he started singing, picking up from where Win had stopped. Using a finger to lift Win’s chin up, he took the opportunity to stare right into the other’s precious orbs.

Pardon the way that I stare  
There's nothin' else to compare  
The sight of you leaves me weak  
There are no words left to speak

His singing voice was not loud enough to resonate throughout the room, but it was loud enough to cover the sound of his heart beating faster. Simultaneously, his fingers traced down Win’s arms, gently lifting them up, putting them on his shoulders, and putting his’ on his partner’s waist. They were slow dancing at dawn, while the sun was carefully rising on their east. They danced like they were the only ones in the world, like nothing really matters, as if they weren’t just strangers three hours ago. Oblivion. 

Like magic, they had completely forgotten what it was like not having each other by their sides, wondering how they were able to go reach that far in their lives without each other’s presence. They stayed like that for a while, in each other's arms, humming to the song disregarding the noise made by the movie being played in the background.

Only when Bright’s dog came in between them were they snapped out of the moment they were in. Win immediately squatted to get closer to the dog’s level, “Is this yours?” Win asked, preoccupied by the dog he just met. Bright nodded and scratched his nape. “I guess he just woke up. Let me go get some food so I can feed him his breakfast” with that, Bright had gone to the pantry to get some supplies. 

Meanwhile, Win was still in awe of the dog. She looked like the one he had when he was a kid. He loved the dog so much. It was his first dog, but after a few years, it died, in his arms. The pain was unimaginable for him, it was his first heartbreak.

“Hey, are you okay?” Bright came rushing to Win who was, to his surprise, crying for a reason still unknown to Bright. He was shaking, so much that Bright did not know how to console him, so he asked the former to look at him while he held his hands and comforted him with words. He was good at reassuring someone. Maybe it’s the amount of writing classes he attended in the past but he knew he had a way with his words and he was glad it was paying off seeing Win slowly calm down from a panic attack. But he still felt something was amiss. How could he be this caring towards someone he just knew hours ago. Even though Bright’s mind was clouded with these thoughts, he just ignored it and felt the need to tend to the man crying instead. What he didn’t realize was he is also hurting upon seeing Win cry.

After Win finished telling Bright the story about his first heartbreak, he apologized to him for causing trouble, “Sorry.” Win uttered. Bright gave him a comforting smile, “Don’t apologize, it’s okay.” He got up and offered a hand to Win, “How ‘bout we make ourselves breakfast?”

Bright was no cook, but Win was. He had just opened up a dessert shop a few months ago, which was, by the way, thriving! His desserts made it to articles, blogs, and was even complimented by a famous baker in the country.

“Now, where do we start…” Bright scratched his head while looking at the ingredients Win brought out from the refrigerator and pantry. Win laughed, “I think you can start by making the eggs” to which he agreed.

Bright was busy frying the eggs when Win swiped the pancake batter he was making on Bright’s nose. He was taken aback but Win started laughing which made him laugh as well. “Oh no, you’re not gonna get away with this!” He wiped the batter from his nose and wiped it on the other’s cheeks. The ‘fight’ went on for quite some time until they smelled something burning. “Shit” Bright ran back to the stove to take the eggs away from the heat. 

“I told you, I’m no cook” Win just shrugged, “I bet you would've cooked the eggs better if I didn’t bother you. It was partly my fault so don’t be too hard on yourself” he smiled. “Now look, we can’t even have eggs for breakfast” Bright pouted. “Well, at least we have pancakes!” He said enthusiastically. 

They had a casual breakfast, learning about each other’s lives. However, Bright still doesn’t know how Win got to his condo but he didn’t mention it, afraid that it’ll seem as if he’s kicking the other away.

Suddenly, Bright winced in pain. It was unbearable for him, and the pain was just growing bigger every second. Win was talking to him, but he couldn’t comprehend any of what the other was saying. His mind was clouded with pain. He opened his mouth to speak but he ran out of breath and passed out.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Bright had just woken up because of a throbbing headache. It was three in the afternoon, the last thing he remembers was having breakfast and nothing beyond that. I probably passed out. He thought to himself. It was most probably because of his lack of sleep last night. The sun was completely out when he slept and not to mention, he got drunk and still didn’t rest after.

He went out of his room, his eyes searching for Win, but he was nowhere to be found. To his surprise, the unit looked clean and without a single mess. Bright smiled, thinking Win went up to clean after him. He felt a little guilty though, a visitor had to fix his things when he should be the one doing that.

He found his way to the kitchen to find some antibiotics to ease his migraine. After taking the pill, he roamed around the unit to check where Win went, probably in the restroom, but still, he was not there.

Giving up, Bright went to his desk to continue the project he had abandoned last night, and to his surprise, the document was already full and completed. He wondered how did that happen when he can’t even recall a second of him coming back to his laptop after Win arrived. 

And so, he decides to read the file.

His eyebrows started furrowing, he was confused, he had so many questions in his mind, but he didn’t know what else to do other than to keep on reading. 

What the fuck. You’ve gotta be kidding me.

As he read further, he discovered a bunch of lies that were unbelievable to him. As far as he knows, He did not write this. Not last night, not today. He doesn’t have even the slightest memory of writing this.

Bright was shaking. He didn’t know what to believe in, the document, or his memories? The latter for sure, he just has to think of the time he came up with this, but he really can’t. He started questioning himself, how come the whole incident last night was precisely written in the document he was reading?

Still confused, he went back to his room, deciding to take a shower to calm himself down but as he passed by the mirror, he froze.

“Win... ” he whispered in disbelief. 

Bright was not a film student. He is a forty-year-old writer suffering from alcohol addiction, and Win was not a stranger he let in in the middle of the night. He is a character in a story Bright was writing.

And as much as Bright longs to return to the time he was with Win, he couldn’t.

Hiraeth   
(n.) homesickness for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.

**Author's Note:**

> hey mira thank u sm for commissioning for this au !! i enjoyed writing this (though the process was slow) i hope u liked it!! ilysm.


End file.
